The Archdiocese of Prague has nearly 400 rental apartments, and wants more

Prague - Currently, the Archdiocese of Prague has nearly 400 rental apartments. The rents, along with income from forestry management, allow for the financing of the archdiocese's operations. The church often purchases them in development projects, investing state compensation from church restitutions. This was stated by General Vicar Jan Balík during today's meeting with journalists in Prague.

According to him, most of the budget sources come from the management of the archdiocese, not from the parishes. "If the economic council hadn't changed its strategy five years ago, there would have been hardly anything to live on; most of the income comes from retail and rentals," said Balík. The Prague archdiocese has its own retail project in Sedlčany and also collaborates with the company Traxial.

The archdiocese rents apartments in Prague through its company XPlace and its subsidiaries, for example, in Zličín, in the Jinonice area of Waltrovka, at the Zlíchov Brewery, or on Jaselská Street in Prague 6. Additional apartments are located in Central Bohemian Milovice or Kolín. In Waltrovka, it is expected to acquire another, already third house from the Penta group, with a new building by Finep near Divoká Šárka planned for the beginning of next year.

"If we complete Habrovka on our land and some other projects, we should have around 500 or 600 apartments by 2030," Balík stated today. At the end of last year, the archdiocese had just under 300 apartments.

According to him, rental prices are determined by location, while the Archdiocesan Charity Prague provides housing under favorable conditions. The long-term occupancy rate of apartments with annual rental contracts is around 95 percent. "It also incurs losses; it's not that profitable. Since there are no apartments in Prague, we decided to contribute to housing availability. It has a conservative return, but long-term," said Balík.

In Klecany, the archdiocese began construction of a basic speech therapy school with a dormitory this year. It is set to open on September 1, 2027, and a public collection is underway for financing. The archdiocese would also like to expand schools in Prague, but for example, there is no building for a four-year high school. The own kindergarten is related to the Brewery, while there should be a school group in Waltrovka. The archdiocese has also begun the construction of a new church in Neratovice. It is to be created using 3D printing with concrete, added Balík.